Chap. XXI.
Iob requiring his freindes to heare him, 7. discourseth of the cause, why some euil men prosper al this life.
BUt Iob answering, sayd: 2Heare I besech you my wordes, and doe penance. 3Beare with me, that I also may speake, and after my wordes, if it shal seme good, laugh ye. 4Is my disputation ∷[1] agaynst man, that I ought not worthely to be sorie? 5Harken to me, and be astonied, and put the finger vpon your mouth. 6And I when I shal remember, am afrayd, and trembling shaketh my flesh. 7Why then doe the impious liue, are they aduanced, and strengthened with riches? 8Their seede contineweth before them, a multitude of kinsemen, and of nephewes in their sight 9Their houses be secure and peaceable, & the rod of God is not vpon them. 10Their bullock hath conceiued, and hath not made abortion: their cow hath calued, and is not depriued of her calfe. 11Their litle ones goe forth as flockes, and their infantes reioyse with pastimes. 12They hold the timbrel, & the harpe, & reioyse at the sound of the organe. 13They ∷[2] lead their daies in wealth, and in a moment they goe downe to ∷[3] hel. 14Who sayd to God: depart from vs, we wil not the knowlege of thy waies. 15Who is the Omnipotent, that we should serue him? and what doth it profite vs if we shal pray him? 16But yet because their good things are not in their hand, be the counsel of the impious far from me. 17How often shal the candel of the impious be extinguished, and inundation come vpon them, and shal he deuide the sorowes of his furie? 18They shal be as chaffe before the face of the winde, and as ashes, which the whirlewinde scattereth. 19God shal reserue the sorow of the father to his children: and when he shal haue rendred it, then shal he know. 20His eies shal see his owne slaughter, and he shal drincke the furie of the Omnipotent. 21For what doeth it pertayne to him concerning his house after him: although the number of his monethes be diminished the halfe? 22Shal anie man teach God knowledge, who iudgeth the high ones. 23This man dieth strong and in health, rich and happie. 24His vowels be ful of fatte, and his bones be embrewed with marrow. 25But an other dieth in bitternesse of soule without anie riches: 26And yet they shal sleepe together in the dust, and wormes shal couer them. 27Surely
- ↑ Though he disputed with three men, yet it was concerning diuine thinges not humaine but of Gods prouidence, and iustice, of the resurrection of eternal life and punishment.
- ↑ See ch. 20. v 5.
- ↑ The same word is in Hebrew , Greke and Latin for hel as in the 7 and 17. chap. & other places, which sheweth that besides hel of the dāmed the resting place also of holie fathers in the old Testament was called by the general name of hel.
